Tucumcari, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Tucumcari's normal year runs from 24°F January nights to 95°F July afternoons, with 13.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.1°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 35°C, 339 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTucumcari Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00023048
- Location35.18°N 103.60°W
- Elevation4,065 ft (1,239 m)
- Population5,058
On October 23, the normal high in Tucumcari is 72°F and the normal low 41°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 14%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Tucumcari.
- Jan 54° 24°
- Feb 58° 27°
- Mar 66° 34°
- Apr 74° 41°
- May 83° 51°
- Jun 93° 61°
- Jul 95° 66°
- Aug 93° 65°
- Sep 86° 57°
- Oct 74° 44°
- Nov 62° 32°
- Dec 53° 24°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Tucumcari each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in August (2.21 in), the least in February (0.36 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 24°F | 38.6°F | 0.40 | 2 | <1 | 26 | 10 h |
| February | 58°F | 27°F | 42.5°F | 0.36 | 3 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 66°F | 34°F | 50.0°F | 0.84 | 4 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 74°F | 41°F | 57.7°F | 0.90 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 51°F | 67.1°F | 1.40 | 6 | 10 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 93°F | 61°F | 77.2°F | 1.55 | 6 | 22 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 95°F | 66°F | 80.6°F | 1.94 | 8 | 26 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 93°F | 65°F | 78.6°F | 2.21 | 9 | 24 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 86°F | 57°F | 71.4°F | 1.37 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 44°F | 59.2°F | 1.31 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 32°F | 47.3°F | 0.55 | 3 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 53°F | 24°F | 38.6°F | 0.52 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 44°F | 59.1°F | 13.35 | 59 | 99 | 109 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | −5°C | 3.7°C | 10 mm |
| February | 15°C | −3°C | 5.8°C | 9 mm |
| March | 19°C | 1°C | 10.0°C | 21 mm |
| April | 23°C | 5°C | 14.3°C | 23 mm |
| May | 28°C | 11°C | 19.5°C | 36 mm |
| June | 34°C | 16°C | 25.1°C | 39 mm |
| July | 35°C | 19°C | 27.0°C | 49 mm |
| August | 34°C | 18°C | 25.9°C | 56 mm |
| September | 30°C | 14°C | 21.9°C | 35 mm |
| October | 24°C | 7°C | 15.1°C | 33 mm |
| November | 17°C | 0°C | 8.5°C | 14 mm |
| December | 12°C | −4°C | 3.7°C | 13 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Tucumcari's own co-op station Tucumcari (4 mi NE) does: 15 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023048; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Tucumcari?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May and October. Of those, March has the fewest days with rain (4).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023048.
When is the last frost in Tucumcari?
In Tucumcari, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 18 in half of years and after May 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 26 in half of years and before October 13 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- April 181 year in 10 after May 1; 9 in 10 after April 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 261 year in 10 before October 13; 9 in 10 before November 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 190 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 211 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 4 in half of springs and before November 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tucumcari in zone 7a in ZIP code 88401, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Tucumcari's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 2°F (18 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00023048; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Tucumcari?
In a normal year in Tucumcari, 99 days a year reach 90°F (23 of them 100°F or more), 109 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 59 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 99a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 23a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 109a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 59a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1948) is 112°F, on June 11, 2022; the lowest is −19°F, on January 13, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1969, with 27.31 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 20.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00023048; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00023048. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Tucumcari?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Tucumcari, 5.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (90%) and December the cloudiest (82%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 84% | 3.2 |
| February | 83% | 4.1 |
| March | 84% | 5.4 |
| April | 86% | 6.7 |
| May | 87% | 7.5 |
| June | 90% | 7.9 |
| July | 90% | 7.5 |
| August | 89% | 6.7 |
| September | 89% | 5.8 |
| October | 86% | 4.5 |
| November | 86% | 3.5 |
| December | 82% | 2.8 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Tucumcari need?
A normal year in Tucumcari brings 3,827 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,694 cooling degree days, 87% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,638 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 818 | 0 |
| February | 630 | 0 |
| March | 469 | 2 |
| April | 242 | 22 |
| May | 73 | 138 |
| June | 2 | 368 |
| July | 0 | 484 |
| August | 1 | 424 |
| September | 24 | 216 |
| October | 219 | 39 |
| November | 532 | 1 |
| December | 816 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,827 | 1,694 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023048. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Tucumcari been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 58.2°F, 0.9°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 59.1°F. 1 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.3°F | +1.2°F | 10.40 |
| 2022 | 59.1°F | at normal | 9.82 |
| 2023 | 58.2°F | −0.9°F | 8.73 |
Over 43 complete years from 1948 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.7°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00023048; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tucumcari's climate compare?
Tucumcari is warmer than 72 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 49. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.1°F is warmer than 72%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tucumcari is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Tucumcari share this climate record?
Logan has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Logan, NM948 people · 15 mi NE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Tucumcari's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Tucumcari. This page uses Tucumcari Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tucumcari (4 mi NE) USC00299156 | 5 mi W | 4,086 ft | 59.2°F | 25°F | 95°F | 16.1 | 15 | April 18 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Tucumcari's climate
What is the coldest month in Tucumcari?
January, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (95°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Tucumcari?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Tucumcari's NOAA station; Tucumcari's own co-op station Tucumcari (4 mi NE) records 15 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Tucumcari?
August, with 2.21 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.36 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tucumcari in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tucumcari in zone 7a in ZIP code 88401, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Tucumcari's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 2°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Tucumcari?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 18; in one year in ten it comes after May 1. Waiting until May 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New Mexico climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- San Jon, NM16 miles from this station, 60.3°F a year
- Ragland (3 mi SSW), NM29 miles from this station, 56.2°F a year
- McCarty Ranch, NM32 miles from this station, 56.5°F a year
- Conchas Dam, NM37 miles from this station, 59.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made